Abstract
This study used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology to examine the differences in gut microbiota between the Père David's deer populations in the Beijing and Shishou areas of China in order to understand the effects of ex situ conservation on the intestinal microflora in the Père David's deer.Results: On the phylum level, the main bacteria found in the Père David's deer populations from both areas were similar: Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. However, the relative abundances of the two groups were significantly different. Alpha diversity results indicated that there was a difference in the evenness of the microflora between the two groups, and the beta diversity results further indicated that there was a significant difference in the microflora structure between the two groups.Conclusions: During the ex situ conservation process of the Père David's deer, their food sources may change, resulting in differences in the gut microbiota. The intestinal microflora in the Père David's deer from the same area are clustered. Therefore, the impact of changes in food on the gut microbiota of the Père David's deer should be taken into consideration during ex situ conservation.
Highlights
The Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus or milu) first appeared in the early Pleistocene epoch and was a typical deer in the northern regions of China
By comparing the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) representative sequences with a microbial reference database, we obtained classification information for each species corresponding to each OTU
The dilution curves of the OTUs measured in this study indicated that the number of OTUs increased with the depth of sequencing
Summary
The Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus or milu) first appeared in the early Pleistocene epoch and was a typical deer in the northern regions of China. It became extinct in China around 1900, but was bred again at the Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center in 1985 (Zhong et al, 2015). The Père David’s deer is currently considered an endangered species (Bai et al, 2012). The Père David’s deer has increased significantly in number and become the representative species for the restoration and revival of endangered species in China (Zhang et al, 2012). To better protect the re-introduced population and eventually release the captive deer, many
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